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Lake Elsie

Richland County, North DakotaView mapDirections

No nutrient or algae sampling on record from ND DEQ for this lake.

Max depth
~28 ft est.
GLOBathy model
  • 28 ft max depth
  • Public access
  • Limited data

Ask about Lake Elsie

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

Lake Elsie in Richland County, North Dakota has water-quality measurements published by ND DEQ, shown here as reported.

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Lake Elsie is a lake in Richland County, North Dakota with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDDEQ, last sampled 2022-04-27. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What Lake Elsie is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Boat launch1 documented ramp

Swimming conditions

No reading

Limited data

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Lake Elsie is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.

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Water quality measurements for Lake Elsie

These are the measurements ND DEQ publishes for Lake Elsie, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.

No clarity data.

MetricValueEPA condition class
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)No recent samples
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~28 ft est.
Average Depth~6 ft est.
Public AccessYes

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Dakota has not published bathymetry for Lake Elsie.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
Surface area
371 acres
Shoreline
3.6 mi
Elevation
1,066 ft

Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.

Recreation & Access

1
Boat Landings
Yes
Public Access
  • Lake ElsiePublic

Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps

Fishing Lake Elsie

Nearby Lakes in Richland County

Frequently asked questions about Lake Elsie

Where is Lake Elsie?

Lake Elsie is a lake in Richland County, North Dakota. Its water-quality measurements are published by ND DEQ and shown on this page as reported.

What is the water quality of Lake Elsie?

Lake Elsie in Richland County, North Dakota has water-quality measurements published by ND DEQ, shown here as reported.

Is Lake Elsie safe to swim in?

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Lake Elsie?

No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Elsie, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.

Are there boat ramps on Lake Elsie?

Lake Elsie has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Elsie. Public access is listed as yes.

Where this data comes from

2 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • North Dakota Department Of Environmental Quality21NDHDWQ_WQX2 samples · 2022

Analytical methods

  • Phosphorus by Colorimetry
  • 4500 NO3 E ~ Nitrate in Water- Cadmium Reduction
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.

Other records on this page

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Depth, fish, and access data from North Dakota Game & Fish

Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory